The Marginal Animal

An obsession of humans seems to be that of distinguishing between slight differences among commonalities.

Is this a by-product of language, which tends to fragment the world?

Or could it be a by-product of individualism, which narrows the focus of the person's concern to only the person themself?  And the ability to do this (and survive) could only have occurred in a society with sufficient surplus that allowed a person to survive without directly participating in the collective effort of survival.

Or could this be a manifestation of a scarcity anxiety created by a perception of a zero-sum environment, wherein a person a person perceives no help forthcoming form anywhere except themself -- that they believe they are utterly alone?

Two poles of human awareness (versus consciousness) are aloneness and community.  [With consciousness, one perceives that one is alone (a homunculus theory), whereas with awareness, one is alone, as in a state of being.  In this conception, awareness precedes consciousness.]

I want  to be ME, but among others like me.